RADICAN'S TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS PPV BLOG 2/14: Coverage of TNA's February PPV

-- This month's PPV begins with a much better series of video packages that are obviously MMA influenced.

(1) Desmond Wolfe vs. D'Angelo Dinero in an 8-Card Stud qualifying match. Dinero outwrestles Wolfe during the early stages of the match. Wolfe then made a comeback and went after Dinero's shoulder. Wolfe has quickly cut off all of Dinero's comebacks so far. Pope finally mounted some offense and nailed Wolfe with the double knees for the win.

-- Backstage, Flair flips out and Bischoff tells him he will call it down the middle. He warns Flair to stay away.

-- Borash is back on PPV and he interviews Morgan and Hernandez. They promise to go at each other to see who is better.

(2) Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan in an 8-Card Stud QF match. Morgan does his terrible elbows spot in the corner during the early stages of the match. Morgan can't catch Hernandez coming off the top rope and he awkwardly slides on top of him as they slowly fall down for a 1 count. Morgan is favoring his mid section while pummeling Hernandez. Hernandez makes a comeback on Morgan and the crowd likes it. Hernandez eventually nails Morgan with a long delayed vertical suplex. That was impressive! Hernandez hurts his shoulder after nailing Morgan with a dive to the outside. Morgan helps Hernandez back into the ring. Morgan then threw Hernandez shoulder-first into the turnbuckle before rolling him up for the pin. This was fine. (**)

-- Angle is backstage with Hemme. He says he owes Hogan an apology. Angle says he will become the #1 contender tonight. Angle says he will beat Anderson.

(3) Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson in an 8-Card Stud QF match. Anderson misses his mic coming down from the rafters. That was funny. Anderson announces himself as the winner of the next three matches. Angle dominates the early stages of the match before nailing Anderson with ten punches in the corner. Anderson gets the upper hand when he ducks a charge from Angle, who goes shoulder-first into the post. Anderson then uses Angles chain to bust him open. Angle mounted a comeback a short time later and hit Anderson with a release belly to belly suplex for a two count. Anderson exposes a turnbuckle after tricking the ref, but Angle nails him with the Angle slam. Anderson then escaped the ankle lock. Angle charged at Anderson and went head-first into the exposed turnbuckle for the win. (**3/4) They used enough tricks and blood here.

-- Backstage, Bischoff tells Foley and Abyss to go at it like its their last match. Bischoff warns them he will take off Abyss's mask if there's any gamesmanship tonight.
Bischoff makes their match a No DQ match. Bischoff says he wants them to beat the hell out of each other for the fans. There's a great message.

(4) Abyss vs. Mick Foley in a No DQ 8-Card Stud QF tournament match. The crowd chants for Abyss to use the bat, but Abyss drops it. Foley slaps Abyss and tells him to use the bat. Foley beat on Abyss and told him he better use the bat. Foley dumped the tacks on the mat, but Abyss cut him off. Abyss refused to slam Foley on the tacks, so ended up slamming him on a different part of the mat where there were no tacks. The fans chanted for Abyss to use the bat and the sock, but Foley cut him off with a DDT. Foley and Abyss did a double socko spot after Foley stole the refs sock. Foley then got socko on Abyss on his own, but ended up letting go. Foley went for the bat, but Abyss ended up slamming him on the tacks. (**1/2) The crowd chants were funny, but this match had a lame story.

-- Hemme interviewed the Nasty Boys backstage. Knobbs said Hogan wanted them to show the tag team division what they're all about. Sags said they shouldn't be in TNA if they can't beat Team 3D.

(5) Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D. Team 3D sends the Nasty Boys to the outside during the early stages of the match and the crowd is hot. Nasty Boys beat on Brother Ray, but he fires back on Sags with a backdrop driver. Team 3D then goes for a 3D, but Sags rolls out of the ring. D-Von misses a splash on Sags, who pulls down the ropes to send him to the floor. The Nasty Boys beat on D-Von for a while. This match is moving along slowly. Bubba gets the hot tag and runs wild. Safs doesn't go up for a slam, but still sells it. They hit 3D on sags, but Knobs gets a helmet from Jimmy Hart and nails Bubba with it for the pin. This was lousy, but not as bad as I expected. (3/4*)

-- Joe was backstage with Bischoff. Joe told Bischoff he realizes how important tonight is. Bischoff said he has a lot of bad history with Flair. Bischoff said he was in a tough spot. Joe told him to take care of Flair and he would take care of Styles. Bischoff told him to watch his Samoan temper.

(6) D'Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan in a semi-final 8-Card Stud tournament match. Morgan showed off his power during the early stages of the match. Morgan beat on Dinero for a long period of time and showcased his cocky persona. Pope fired back and nailed Morgan with a DDT, but could not get up to continue the assault. Pope finally got to his feet and ran wild on Morgan. Morgan caught Dinero with a huge clothesline for a nearfall. Pope ducked a carbon footprint and nailed Morgan with the double knees in the corner for the pin. This was good while it lasted. (**1/2)

-- Borash interviewed Anderson backstage. Anderson bragged about beating Angle. Anderson said he would win the tournament and capture the title at Lockdown. The crowd chanted along with Anderson's catchphrase. Good promo.

(7) Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson in a semi-final 8-Card Stud tournament match. Abyss showed his power early and sent Anderson to the outside. Abyss went for a charge in the corner, but Anderson got his foot up. Anderson tried to take Abyss's mask off, but Abyss drove him into the corner. Anderson immeditately took out Abyss's legs to maintain the advantage. Anderson went after Abyss's knee, but Abyss fired back and got a two count with a side slam. Anderson pulled Abyss's mask down. Abyss grabbed the ref when he couldn't see. Anderson kicked Abyss's leg and hit the mic check for the pin. This was fine. (*1/2)

-- Hemme interviewed Styles and Flair backstage. Styles said you could blend all the best wrestlers together and they wouldn't compare to him. Flair said they would make history tonight. Flair was awesome here. Flair said Styles would walk that aisle and win.

(8) A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe w/ special guest referee Eric Bischoff. I'm surprised the Styles-Joe title match isn't the main event. This show needs to deliver a couple of good matches. Styles was shown backstage. He was wearing a Flair-style robe that had his signature hood with "A.J." written on it. Styles grabbed a headlock early, but Joe fired back and nailed him with a kick to the head in the corner. Styles fired back and hit a dragon screw on Joe's leg. Flair shouted at Styles to go after his knee. Styles went for the figure four, but Joe pushed him through the ropes and nailed him with a suicide dive. Styles ran away from Joe on the outside, but ended up turning around and poking him in the eye. Styles ripped apart the mats on the floor, but Joe countered and nailed Styles with a chop. Joe stared at Flair before getting back in the ring where Styles greeted him with a dropkick. Joe powered out of a headlock, but Styles nailed Joe with his signature dropkick. Flair smiled on the outside and strutted. Joe blocked a top rope huracanrana and nailed Styles with a flying boot off the second rope for a two count.

Styles and Bischoff argued in the ring, which allowed Flair to drive Joe's knee into the ringpost. Styles went to work on Joe's knee as the crowd chanted for both men. Styles finally got the figure four on Joe. Joe struggled to break free. Styles held onto Flair's hands for leverage, but Bischoff caught it. Joe broke free and backdropped Styles to the outside, but was slow to get to his feet. Joe ran wild on Styles once he got back into the ring. Styles fired back a short time later with a springboard forearm. Joe fired back with a series of slaps, but Styles caught him with an inverted DDT. Joe blocked the Styles clash and got the choke. Joe then turned the choke into a suplex. Joe hit the muscle buster, but Flair pulled him outside. Bischoff nailed Flair with a punch. Joe yelled at Bischoff and turned right around into a pele kick. Styles hit the Styles clash and Bischoff counted very slowly. He hesitated, but counted for a third time. Flair got on the mic and told Bischoff to raise Styles's hand. Bischoff did it, but didn't look happy. This was a solid match, but there was a lot of outside interference. It will be interesting to see what all this leads to. (***1/4)

-- Hemme interviewed Mr. Anderson backstage again. He wished her a happy valentines day. He said he had checked some things off his bucket list by beating Abyss and Angle. Anderson said Pope had better said his prayers. Anderson went to do his catch phrase but stopped short.

-- Borash interviewed Pope. He called Anderson "Junior." Pope said he was going to beat Anderson. Hall and Pac jumped him backstage and beat him down. Hall turned to the camera and told Hogan not to turn his back on the Wolfpac. Pope's music played, but he didn't come out. Anderson then came out. The ref rang the bell.

(9) Mr. Anderson vs. The Pope 8-Card Stud tournament finals. The Pope crawled out to the ring. Anderson ran down the aisle and beat down the Pope. Anderson got in Pope's face and taunted him. Pope slapped Anderson and went on the attack. Anderson ran away from Pope on the outside. Anderson fired back and continued to mock Pope while Flair and Styles were shown watching backstage. Pope kept trying to get back in the ring, but Anderson thwarted him each time. Pope finally got back into the ring and lit up Anderson with chops and kicks. Pope couldn't suplex Anderson, who countered and sent Pope down to the mat. Pope got a small package for a nearfall, but Anderson attacked his injured ribs while the crowd booed. Pope fired back again, but Anderson took him right down with a shot to the ribs. This match is just dull so far.

Pope fired back again and nailed Anderson with a series of suplexes. Dinero then got a nearfall with a big clothesline, but Anderson nailed Pope in the ribs again. Pope nailed Anderson with a big punch and hit Anderson with the double knees in the corner, but Anderson kicked out. Anderson fired back with a clothesline and signaled for the mic from the rafters. The crowd booed as Anderson said we were one mic check away from a new number one contender. Anderson then hit the mic check, but Pope kicked out. Anderson went for a swanton, but Pope moved. Pope ducked a charge in the corner and hit the double knees for the pin. This was dull at times, but it got good down the stretch. (**1/2) Overall: The Pope celebrated on the outside while money fell from the rafters. This was an average show filled with average wrestling.

Torch columnist Sean Radican is Tweeting on tonight's TNA PPV. We'll post his "blog" throughout the night with ongoing thoughts on the PPV.

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)

REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...